Beijing South Railway Station

Beijingnan 北京南
Beijing South Station
Other names	Beijing South
Location	Yongdingmen Chezhan Lu, Fengtai District, Beijing China
Coordinates	39°51′57″N 116°22′35″E / 39.86583°N 116.37639°E / 39.86583; 116.37639Coordinates: 39°51′57″N 116°22′35″E / 39.86583°N 116.37639°E / 39.86583; 116.37639
Operated by	Beijing Railway Bureau Ministry of Railways of the PRC
Line(s)	Beijing–Shanghai Railway Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway Bejing–Tianjin Intercity Railway
Platforms	24 (11 island platforms, 2 side platforms)
Connections	Beijing South Railway Station Bus terminal
Other information
Station code	1
History
Opened	1897 (1897)
Previous names	Majiapu Station, Yongdingmen
Services
Preceding station   China Railway   Following station Beijing Terminus Beijing–Shanghai Railway Fengtai towards Shanghai Preceding station   China Railway High-speed   Following station Terminus Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway Langfang towards Shanghai Hongqiao Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway Yizhuang towards Tianjin

Beijing South (Beijingnan) Railway Station (Chinese: 北京南站; pinyin: Běijīngnán Zhàn) is a large railway station (mainly serving high speed trains) in Fengtai District, Beijing, about 7.5 km (4.7 mi) south of central Beijing, between the 2nd and 3rd ring roads. The station in its present form opened on 1 August 2008 and replaced the old Beijing South station, originally known as Majiapu Railway Station, later renamed Yongdingmen Railway Station, which stood 500 metres away. The old station was in use from 1897 to 2006.^[1]

The new Beijing South Railway Station is the city's largest station, and is the one of the largest in Asia. It joins the main Beijing Railway Station and the Beijing West Railway Station as one of three main passenger rail hubs in the Chinese capital.^[2] It serves as the terminus for high-speed trains on the Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Rail and the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which can reach speeds up to 350 km/h (217 mph).^[3] Some CRH night sleepers to and from Shanghai also depart from (or arrive at) this station.

The station integrates two Beijing Subway line stations, bus hubs (including an airport shuttle bus), and taxi stands, into the same building, and includes a wide variety of restaurants in the station itself.

Design and construction

The terminus occupies a 32 hectare site in Fengtai.^[4]

The enormous oval-shaped station was designed by the British architecture firm of TFP Farrells in collaboration with the Tianjin Design Institute.^[5] It was built from more than 60,000 tons of steel and 490,000 cubic meters of concrete by 4,000 workers in less than three years. The glass ceiling is outfitted with 3,246 solar panels to generate electricity. The structure spreads out like a ray or trilobite and covers 320,000 square meters, more than the Beijing National Stadium's 258,000 m².^[2] Its 24 platforms have the capacity to dispatch 30,000 passengers per hour or 241,920,000 a year.^[6] The 251,000 m² waiting area can accommodate 10,000 passengers.

On the elevated departures concourse, there are designated waiting areas and VIP lounges (with better seating and, in the lounges, free food and snacks) for passengers travelling in CRH Business Class, and a number of restaurants and corner shops. There are also a number of ticket counters (where nationwide ticketing services are available) and an increasing number of retail stores and fast food stalls. Ticket machines are available to holders of the PRC ID card and sell tickets for trains departing from this station. 23 sets of ticket gates despatch passengers onto trains.

The arrivals level is underground, with 8 arrival gates situated in the immediate vicinity of the Beijing Subway station concourse. To the sides are two taxi stands, and separated West and East parking lots for private cars (including a mezzanine level). Express entrances have been built, and are presently in use for all C trains to Tianjin, as well as some trains to Shanghai. Ticket machines and a few ticket counters are also available at the arrivals level. As with the departures level, a variety of restaurants and corner shops are also available at the arrivals level. Two floors below the arrivals level are the platforms for Lines 4 and 14, respectively, with Line 4 services available at present, and Line 14 services coming later in 2015.

Reconstruction began on 10 May 2006,^[7] immediately after services ended at the old station. The station was complete for the 1 August 2008 reopening. In 2011 and 2012, new restaurants, fast food stalls, and corner shops were added. To cut queues, traditional counters at the arrival level were replaced with ticket machines.

Local transportation

The entire transportation system is integrated with the station itself.

• Beijing Subway: Beijing South Railway Station - Line 4, line 14.
• Beijing Bus stops:
  • Beijing South Railway Station (北京南站): 381 458
  • Beijing South Railway Station North Square (北京南站北广场): 20 84 102 106 203 458
  • Beijing South Railway Station South Square (北京南站南广场): 72 208 529 652 665 特5 特8
• Beijing Airport Bus: Route 10

Bus routes in bold have a terminus at the stop.

The central and northern sections Line 14 services currently terminate at this station (December 2015). The western section of Line 14 ends at Xiju station pending completion of the west-central section of Line 14 to Beijing South Railway Station.

Trains

As of 2012, Beijing South Station is the terminal for two CRH railway lines. The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway has frequent service to Tianjin (C trains). The Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway runs G and D trains to Ji'nan, Nanjing, and Shanghai, with several trains continuing to Hangzhou and Ningbo, and one (G55) to Fuzhou. This railway also has services to Qingdao (via the Jiao'ao–Jinan branch)^[8] and Hefei (via the Bengbu–Hefei branch).^[9][10] Since July 2013, travel time to Hangzhou has been cut by one hour for direct services that skip Shanghai.

Beijing South services the world's third fastest train (after the Shanghai Airport Express Train and some faster trains of the Shinkansen).

Gallery

• 

  South Station full view

• 

  South Entrance (Outside)

• 

  South Entrance (Inside)

• 

  Waiting Area

• 

  CRH high-speed train

• 

  Beijing South Railway Station B1

Notes

External links

• Beijing South Railway Station Guide
• Official site
• Photos of the reconstruction 2007-2008
• Beijing Train Time Table & Rail Transportation Guide